Health and Education

I discovered this incredible work by chance while searching through a listing of outdoor jobs on an online database in the summer of 2011. As a recent college graduate, I was neck deep in the angst of entering the job force. I had never heard of Wilderness Therapy before, and honestly, I remember feeling unsure if I wanted to do it or not. I pictured a boot camp where students just cried all day and yelled at each other as field instructors ran around saying things like, “take accountability for your actions!” or, “let the tears flow!” Nonetheless, something about it captivated my imagination. So I applied for a job as a Field Instructor and read every book about it I could get my hands on. As I read  Shouting At The Sky , a book describing a writer’s personal wilderness therapy experience, I started to understand that this wasn’t like anything else I had ever heard of; it sounded compassionate, powerful, raw, even sacred. Two months later I was asked to join a training gro...

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started as a field guide in 2011. What I did know, however, was that the wilderness provides a powerful backdrop for anyone searching for something. I had recently gotten back from a four and a half month backpacking trip from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail (The “AT”), where I had experienced that fact first hand. When I started the Appalachian Trail, on the surface I was a confident and probably somewhat arrogant recent college grad. However, internally I was scared to death by the fact that I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had always liked the outdoors but unlike many of the people I met during the trip, I was not fulfilling a lifelong dream by hiking the full length of the AT. Rather, I was fulfilling a dream that I had had for all of about two months after realizing that I was about to have to graduate and this was something that could help delay my entrance into “the real world.” I think it is ...

As the  Family Support Therapist at Blue Ridge , I work with the parents of our students in the field. My role is to offer space for families to experience their own process, which often parallels the student process but is distinctly different for obvious reasons. Teens are in the woods, with both the discomfort that it brings and the luxury of not having to attend to their “normal” lives.  They get to be completely present with their feelings, wrapped up in 24/7 support. On the flip side, parents are trying to manage day to day life, kids, finances, responsibilities, etc. AND participate in this incredibly intense emotional experience. Parents have often been in crisis mode with their kids for months or years leading up to the wilderness experience and are quite simply exhausted. This sets the stage for discussion of self-care…before we can do meaningful work on family dynamics, parents must restore some semblance of their own emotional balance and stability. This is ...

"What's new with Blue Ridge?" This question is one we often get asked. We have a fantastic team, strong leadership, and a comprehensive, individualized, clinical assessment focused program for teens and their families. We’re taking the opportunity to share more about Blue Ridge’s program and communicate what’s changed (and what hasn’t). Here are 5 things to know about us. We Include a Strong Focus on Clinical Assessment.  We are continually looking at students and families through the lens of assessment, which is why we initially see clients in a wilderness intervention. Earlier this year we introduced our strengthened early clinical intake assessment administered by  Lorena Bradley, Ph.D . We have seen that reinforcing the intake assessment process early in a student’s stay results in stronger case conceptualization, more tailored treatment, and more explicit goals established for discharge planning. Dr. Bradley conducts intake assessments for every student wit...

Now that you know the basics about  mindfulness , let’s dive in a little bit more… The benefits of mindfulness So why practice mindfulness?  As we take time to be present to our experiences, and practice focusing on the present, we actually rewire our brains by creating new neural networks.  What are neural networks, you ask? When we learn behavior (how to swim, how to write the alphabet, how to drive a car) we create a neural network in the brain--neural networks, essentially, are neurons collecting signals from others and this creates an electric activity that creates connective branches in the brain. The more we repeat this behavior, the stronger the neural network becomes, and we establish this network as an “expert”—meaning that it is fully learned behavior (we don’t have to relearn it).  Students hiking through the wilderness is a beautiful metaphor for this process.  Imagine a single-track trail in the woods.  The more this single-track is u...

Blue Ridge first opened our Footsteps group for pre-teens in 2006, as one of the first wilderness therapy programs to work with this younger adolescent age group. It has always been developmentally focused to fit the needs of 10-14 year-olds, with an emphasis on nurturing these kids through every interaction. Our field staff balance supporting students through tasks while not rescuing them from what needs to be done. In this way, our students develop new skills while having the “safety net” of caring adults. We are a co-ed group led by co-ed field staff. This mirrors the traditional school setting where students develop their communication skills and build healthy relationships with peers and staff of different genders. These young students spend most days backpacking, but every ten days, they get to regroup and spend time at our hybrid base camp, called The Fort. In the Footsteps program, we work with our students to increase their understanding of the role they have played in...

Although you’ve probably heard that mindfulness is currently a therapeutic “buzz word”, it is truly a practice that has been around for thousands of years. It has its roots in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but also in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In addition to it being rooted in these religious traditions, it also has been embraced and popularized by secular institutions. Misconceptions about mindfulness There are many common misconceptions about mindfulness. Mindfulness is often mistaken for a specific religious practice. Although many religions embrace practices of mindfulness, it is a practice that can be incorporated into any religious belief system, and also can be practiced by non-believers. Mindfulness is also often mistaken for relaxation. Although relaxation can sometimes be the result of mindfulness, it is not the goal of the practice. If we are practicing mindfulness authentically, the result can actually be feeling more agitation! People also often mist...